Tranexamic Acid Safe for Wide Spectrum of Trauma Patients

Tranexamic acid reduces risk of death and thrombotic events in patients with traumatic bleeding, irrespective of the baseline risk of death, according to a study published online Sept. 11 in BMJ.

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Tranexamic acid reduces risk of death and thrombotic events in patients with traumatic bleeding, irrespective of the baseline risk of death, according to a study published online Sept. 11 in BMJ.

To estimate the proportion of deaths that could potentially have been averted through administration of tranexamic acid, Ian Roberts, M.D., from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and colleagues used data from an international trial involving 13,273 trauma patients who were assigned to tranexamic acid or placebo. Patients were stratified by the baseline risk of death (<6 percent; 6 to 20 percent; 21 to 50 percent; and >50 percent).

The researchers found that tranexamic acid correlated with a significant reduction in all-cause mortality and in death from bleeding. There were fewer deaths among tranexamic acid-treated patients for each stratum of baseline risk of death, with no evidence of heterogeneity in the effect of tranexamic acid on all-cause mortality or deaths from bleeding based on baseline risk of death. Tranexamic acid-treated patients had a significant decrease in the odds of fatal and nonfatal thrombotic events and arterial thrombotic events but no significant reduction in venous thrombotic events. The percentage of deaths that could have been averted with tranexamic acid administration within three hours of injury ranged from 17 to 36 percent for the different baseline risk strata.

"Tranexamic acid can be administered safely to a wide spectrum of patients with traumatic bleeding and should not be restricted to the most severely injured," the authors write.

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine disclosed funding from Pfizer, which manufactures tranexamic acid.